


Of Thanksgiving and Happy Mondays

by Aeneid



Category: Gintama
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Birthday Sex, Birthday Smut, Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, Japanese Culture, Married Couple, Married Life, Married Sex, PWP without Porn, Sex, Thanksgiving
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-01
Updated: 2014-12-01
Packaged: 2018-02-27 16:48:22
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,703
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2700185
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aeneid/pseuds/Aeneid
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Everything had been meticulously planned for her birthday celebration, but at the very last minute, Kagura cancelled all of it. Okita Sougo vows to make sure that all of his carefully laid out plans would be executed.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Of Thanksgiving and Happy Mondays

**Author's Note:**

> Better late than never, I say.
> 
> By the way, the 'thanksgiving' part in the title does not refer to the American holiday, but the Japanese one.
> 
> Fic setting is modern AU.
> 
> Explanation of the title will be at the end of the fic.
> 
> Enjoy!

* * *

On the eve of her twenty-sixth birthday, Sakata Kagura was dead tired on her feet.

What was supposed to be a relaxing three-day weekend that she vowed to be the days where she would stay in and relax became a nightmare as the culture festival exhibit she worked hard on for months on end requested by a client suddenly fell apart before her very eyes. All the reservations she had made months ahead of the Edo-period exhibition her company had been planning on suddenly cancelled out on her, citing that they have not received the promised downpayment. To add to her bad luck, a fellow colleague wouldn’t be able to help her out because his mother had just died and he had to take care of  _everything_ , including the funeral.

Right after work that Friday, she rushed through  _everything_ , from the reservation of the event space until the setup of the Edo-period clothing. The company she worked for, a start-up advertising agency called  _Denpa Shogun_ , placed her on the public relations side, and most of the time, they were in-charge of the fun side, as they planned the campaigns, the press releases of every event they have, and, her favorite, the activities and exhibitions.

As much as she did love her job, right now, she had never,  _ever_  hated it with a burning passion.

Oh, how she wanted to cry right now and just curl up in her bed.

_So much for planning ahead._

Bitter tears ran down her face as she opened the door to her apartment, upset at the fact that she had planned ahead, only for things to fall apart at the last minute.

She was exhausted, and the best thing she could think of to relax was to cry herself to sleep.

“Look whose home.”

She froze at the sound of the arrogant tone. Looking up, she found herself face to face with her immediate supervisor and  _husband_ , Okita Sougo.

Though she was still referred to as ‘Sakata’ in the workplace, her legal name was officially Okita Kagura since they married three years ago.

“O-Okita…?!” in her shock, she had referred to him by his last name, an old habit that she had yet to get rid of.

“Where the hell have you been?” he asked angrily. “We planned for this  _months in advance_ , and you just  _cancelled everything_ at the very last minute?!”

She shook her head. “Places. Let’s just get to bed… and make the most out of…  _the remaining holiday_.” Kagura couldn’t help but spit out the words sarcastically.

“Someone from the office told me that you made last-minute visits to the exhibit after making it clear last week that everything was already good to go.” He told her in his deadpan voice, taking note that her shoulder-length tangerine hair was a mess. “Care to explain that?”

She shook her head once again, making him frown. “… Not a big deal. Come on, let’s just—” as soon as she stepped on to the elevated floor, he grabbed her arm. “Hey, let go—”

“ _Answer me._ ” He demanded angrily.

“Sougo,  _please_. I’m tired.” Weariness was evident in her tone. “I just want to sleep and—”

“Who says you’re going to sleep tonight?”

It took her a couple of seconds to register the words he had uttered. “… What?”

As if on cue, the clock hanging by the doorway sounded, indicating the new hour. Right after, the chime rang twelve times, denoting that it was already midnight.

“It’s November 3.” Suddenly, her sadistic supervisor flashed her a feral grin. “I still need to give you your present.”

* * *

She was hiding something.

Exhausted from a business trip to Kobe, he was looking forward to spending the long weekend with his  _dearly missed wife_  when she suddenly canceled  _everything_ , citing that she had to do some work that she had neglected. When he demanding the reason for the sudden cancelation of their holiday, she ignored him and sped off, leaving him confused, angry, and  _hurt_. What was supposed to be a nice birthday weekend ended up with him bitter and resentful at the fact that his wife had chosen work  _over him_.

… It wasn’t even his birthday, but he was beyond irate.

The workaholic culture of their society was something that could not be helped, but both of them worked for a company that was very forward-thinking in a sense that they did work only within the hours of eight in the morning until five in the afternoon. Overtime was done only on a case-to-case basis, but even so, everyone managed to make the hours work for them, unlike the other companies where their employees use most of their time to take long breaks and only getting to work by four in the afternoon [1].

Kagura was a workaholic, but even  _she_  had her limits.

Sometimes, he wondered if it would have been better if he married someone who was content with becoming a housewife, but immediately knew the answer: he would never,  _ever_  settle for  _anyone_  who wasn’t her.

Ever since he met her nearly three decades ago, Okita Sougo knew  _she was going to be his bride_.

Back then, at the age of six, he boldly declared it to everyone who would listen, much to the chagrin of her father, who thought he was an overconfident brat for saying that kind of thing at such a young age. He proved Sakata Gintoki wrong three years ago, when they ended up getting married because of, as she called it, ‘circumstances beyond their control’.

In all honesty, it was only because they ended up taking the same business trip to Osaka, ended up in the same shared apartment for a good three months, ended up annoying one another, ended up—

In the end, everything just ended up in the bedroom (his side of the bedroom), and though they tried to keep their relationship hidden from  _everyone_ , they knew it was getting harder to resist the temptation of going to one of the offices’ empty meeting rooms and  _fuck_. Despite being an employee whose rank and seniority was higher than most, he did not have his own room like their Western counterparts; in fact, he was seated beside her in their office room, and it was quite hard at times for them to keep their hands from one another.

On the eve of his 27th birthday, he proposed that they move in together for ‘economical reasons’, citing even the current economic recession [2], only for Sakata to say pointblank, “You want me to marry you?”

At his nod, she sighed in relief. “Thank god.”

“Why?” he wanted to know.

“Because I won’t become a Christmas cake anymore.” [3] At her blunt admission that she had some two years left before the ‘deadline’, he chuckled.

The very next day, on his birthday, he handed over to her a signed the marriage contract, they submitted it to the ward office with her signature on it, she moved into his two-bedroom flat after a few days, and they were very well married.

This was their third year of celebrating each other’s birthdays as a married couple, and it just so happened that shit hit the fan a few days ago, just before the long weekend.

He was not the kind of guy who verbally showed his affection, but he made it clear that he was interested in her far beyond the sex. He surprised her every now and then with presents, but after he planned extensively for something big this year, she just had to cancel out on him.

… Not that his surprise was totally ruined, but still.

“W-what do you mean…?” fear was evident in her eyes that he nearly laughed out loud.

“Nothing that would endanger you.” His smile said it all:  _you’ll enjoy it_.

She laughed nervously. “We can save that for tomorrow. Let’s just go to sleep—” before she could even take another step, he was in front of her, gripping her arm.

“You don’t have to tell me why you had to change your plans.” he said it so softly that she had a hard time understanding him. “Humor me just for tonight, and I won’t ask any more questions.”

Her husband had never been the brooding sort, and the fact that he had gone from eager to subdued was surprising.

Sighing, she said, “Fine—”

“Great.” With his hands on her white, buttoned-up dress shirt, he grabbed the collar of her shirt and forcefully ripped it apart, the buttons tumbling down to the ground, her bra exposed for him to see. As she stood there in aghast at what he had just done, he smirked. “Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten.”

“F-forgotten…  ** _what_**?” she was so angry at what he had just did, it took everything in her not to scream.

“Oh, you know… roleplaying in our office attire.” He chuckled darkly. At her dumbfounded gaze, he laughed harder. “Why do you think I’m wearing a suit?”

The exhaustion, combined with the fact that she confused the days when he would be back, was taking its toll on her, and only now did she realize that she pretty much forgot that he had been in their shared apartment for a good two days already after a rather long business trip to Kobe.

“Seriously, Sakata, you’ve forgotten?” immediately, his playful tone had turned serious, switching to his supervisor tone.

One that she secretly longed to hear during their lovemaking.

“Y-yes.” She said, playing along with his whims. “My apologies, sir—” as soon as the words left her lips, he pulled her closer. Kagura felt as if every single exhaustion she had in her body promptly disappeared at the body contact, and automatically, she wrapped her arms around his torso, sighing.

“Just relax.” He muttered against her ear.

* * *

Trust Okita to manipulate her into doing his bidding.

It was her birthday for goodness’ sake… yet she found herself sitting on a chair in their dining room, her knees propped up, her mini-skirt bunched up around her waist, her thigh-high black socks pulled up by the garter belts she wore beneath her skirt under the guise of black-colored tights. She had an inkling that he would be ripping off her stockings apart if she had worn them right now, and while she frowned down upon her clothes getting torn to pieces, she was strangely turned on by it.

It wasn’t everyday that they could engage into something like this; sex was usually done after a bath, or even during bath time, but this?

As much as they  _did_  want to do some fucking during work hours,  _they couldn’t_. The lack of privacy, and the fact that one of them might get in trouble, him especially, since it might constitute as power and sexual harassment [4]…

They just didn’t, couldn’t risk it.

Still, for him to do this after she casually mentioned about sex in their business attires…

She was shocked, to say the least.

_Okita Sougo didn’t do these things._

From the moment they first met, she had hero-worshipped him while he thought of her as a servant of sorts who would do his every bidding.

Older by four years, Okita had been her sole playmate and companion whenever her dad was too busy to play with her, especially during the times he had to submit his manuscripts to his publisher. They were inseparable until he got to upper elementary, during which he began  _bullying her_.

She never liked him since… until he changed her mind a few years ago.

“You seem distracted. Mind telling me what’s on your mind?” he was kneeling in front of her, his hands on either sides of her thighs. Gently, he pried her knees apart, only for her to put her hands between her legs, blushing furiously. “Playing modest all of a sudden? That’s so unlike you.”

“Y-you… what are you planning?”

“Relax. I promised you that you’ll be fine.” Reluctantly, she removed her hands, and immediately after she did, he looked up at her, lust evident in his blood-colored irises. “By the way, you can put your hands everywhere except my head or my face.”

She gave him a puzzled look, only for it to be abruptly interrupted when his lips began kissing the insides of her thighs. “W-w-what are you—” Kagura gasped when she felt his fingers on the sides of her hips.

“Shhh.” His fingers on the strings of her underwear, ready to untie the strings. “You’re so bold for wearing this under your skirt. Were you planning this as well?”

She had been so dead tired for the last few days that she just grabbed whatever it was in her drawer, wore it, and sped off. Tokyo was not a safe city for women like here who were fond of wearing mini-skirts, as there were perverts who loved to take up-skirt shots whenever they had the chance to do so [5]. To protect herself, she made sure that she wore a pair of shorts underneath her skirt, which had been removed by him minutes ago before setting her down on the chair.

With her legs spread apart and her knees propped up, she swallowed nervously.

“… Not really, no.” she said truthfully.

“Good choice though.” He said, nipping the flesh of her inner thighs before tentatively licking the slit of her sex, making her quiver.

Him on his knees and kneeling in front of her wasn’t exactly the most ‘masculine’ thing to do in the society they lived in, but he didn’t care about that right now. Even if he was her superior at work, and supposedly the man she would be listening to for as long as she lived all because he was  _the husband_ [6], all of those things did not matter to him.

… Besides, he knew Kagura would kick him if he dared to intimidate her into submitting to him unwillingly.

At least, though, they was one thing he could do right now to please and shock her.

Using his fingers, he spread her apart, exposing her delicate folds and, and right after aiming a lazy smirk at her blushing face, he began to tease her with slow licks against the sensitive bundle of nerves. She vaguely remembered him saying about not touching his face nor his face earlier, so she settled with holding on to the edge of the chair, though it hardly did anything. Her arms were shaking, her legs were unsteady… and  _he_  was still at this, though this time, he went lower, his tongue brushing against her opening. With his left hand, he continued to expose her, while his other hand began to play a rather vicious trick on her by thrusting his fingers in a rather brisk pace. Just when she was nearly over the edge with what he was doing, complete with her nearly falling off the chair,  _the damn idiot stopped_ , and gave her a rather evil smirk.

“What the hell was that?!” she yelled before she could stop herself, making him laugh. “That  _is not funny_ , Okita Sougo!”

He stood up, lifted her under her arms, and started cuddling her as he took the seat where she was previously at, with Kagura now sitting on his lap. “That’s more like it.” He whispered against her ear.

“And what exactly,” she hissed. “did you mean by that?”

“You’ve been so stressed out lately.” In response, he unhooked her bra. “Isn’t sex one of the best ways to relieve stress?”

“And your point is?” came her curt reply.

“Just enjoy your day.” He said as he cupped her breasts, making her yelp. “I’m willing to help you out; that was just a sample of what I can do.”

“Is that so?” she knew he didn’t make promises for the hell of it, but just to be sure, she pressed her buttocks against him, feeling his erection. “Judging from your reaction, you seem… eager.”

“I’ve been on a business trip for a week with old men as my companions. You think I actually wanted to go?” he snapped.

For their age, those dirty old men lived up to their nicknames… and he wanted no part in their adventures at various cabaret clubs in Kobe, so he contented himself by either sleeping early or watching television until he felt sleepy.

“Awwww, poor Souichirou.” She mocked, kissing his forehead. “We’ll have to do something about that, don’t we?”

With that, he carried her in his arms. “Oh, we do.”

* * *

They barely made it to their bedroom before she managed to rip off his necktie, tossing it by the hallway leading up to their room. With her skirt still around her waist, she was about to remove it when he told her not to. It took a moment for her to realize that he was really intending to push through with his initial plans of them having sex in their office attire.

Come to think of it, they had never done this kind of thing. Sex for them was all about getting naked and having as much skin contact as possible, but this…

She felt rather excited.

As he laid her down in the bed, he closed in on her, kissing her rather eagerly, his hands on her breasts, pushing away the bra that was still hanging above her chest. She, in turn, untucked the white dress shirt he wore and began to unfasten the row of buttons, starting from the bottom. With each button unfastened, his kiss became more demanding as he pried open her mouth, sucking on her tongue, making her moan. Kagura, in turn, unbuttoned his pants and pulled it down to his hips, along with his boxers. She felt his erection press against her thigh as he pulled away from her, his eyes filled with lust and eagerness.

“Ready?” ever the gentleman (or as gentlemanly as a sadist could be), she nodded shyly. Giving her yet another kiss on the cheek, he asked, “Me on top, or you on top?”

At her puzzled look, he added, “You choose. Whatever’s fine with me, birthday girl.” He told her.

“Me, then.” She said, her hands on her hem of her skirt, pulling it up a bit, as well as her garter belt. As Sougo settled on her right to make himself comfortable by propping up half of his body against the headboard, she placed her knees on either side of him, straddling him a bit. Seeing him give her a rather lazy smile made her blush, though the reaction was more evident in her lower body as she felt the wetness between her legs once more. His earlier actions had a lingering effect on her, and upon seeing her dazed look, he raised his right hand and caressed her between her legs, earning a low moan as he easily slipped a finger inside her, followed by another.

“Take your time.” He said, easing her longingly temporarily. Giving her one final stroke, he brought his hands to his mouth, licking her come off his fingers while she took his length and slowly lowered herself.

Breathing heavily, Kagura moaned as soon as he easily sheathed himself inside her.

“Alright?” he asked her while she nodded.

“Better than the first time.” She chuckled, referring to the first time they slept together wherein he lacked self-control and immediately came inside her as soon as he entered her. It had been downright embarrassing on his part, but for her, it had been rather…  _flattering_.

Who would have thought that the person who used to think of her as his personal slave since childhood had hidden affections for her?

That, and his embarrassment distracted her from the discomfort she was feeling at that time.

He looked away, cheeks flaming, clearly not over it, even after three years. “My apologies for being your first disappointment.”

“Poor Souichirou.” She teased, letting her inner muscles tighten around his length, making him gasp sharply. "Don't worry, I’ll make this a better experience for you.”

“Shouldn’t it be the other way around?” he asked her.

“As long as I keep on making you beg for more, that’s fine with me.” She said, pulling down his dress shirt to bite down on his flesh as his hands steadied her shoulders. Kagura lifted her hips for a bit before plunging against his hips once more in a steady pace. The bed beneath them squeaked softly at her movement, the bed sheets slowly coming undone. The urgency to make him yell out in pleasure had made her pacing faster, while his breathing became labored. Sougo struggled not to be loud, but failed to do so as his lips let out a harsh yell as soon as he reached his peak. Kagura ceased her movement as soon as she felt him orgasm within her, but as soon as she did, her husband, to her shock, grabbed her hips and lifted her up slightly before lowering her against him.

She screamed out his name as she found herself riding him again, but this time, with his assistance. Maintaining her previous pace, she gasped as he squeezed her buttocks and guided her to her orgasm, knowing that her legs had gotten weak from her previous movements. As she did not know where to put her hands, she contented herself with holding up her skirt as she rode him over and over again until finally, she felt the familiar sensation of warmth below her navel as she climaxed rather hard, her fluids soaking his length.

Quickly, he wrapped his arms around her torso, bringing her closer to him as he placed a kiss on the skin just below her breast.

“Kagura…” he breathed.

“Hmmm?”

“Let me clean you.” Before she could ask further what he meant by that, he had her on her back, his head between her legs, and submitted to his ministrations.

* * *

Several hours later, she was still blushing by the time both of them were now relaxing in the bathtub together. After he had ‘thoroughly cleaned her’ with the use of his mouth, he then proceeded to embarrass her further by making her say rather dirty things that she would dare not voice out… all the while referring to him as ‘Okita-san’, just like how she called him at work . At first, she had been hesitant, until he told her that if she did not say what she wanted, he would not do anything. With her cheeks blushing, she began ordering him to do the wickedest things, which ended with her on her hands and her knees, with him behind her, thrusting against her roughly until they were both gasping for air.

“You’re unusually quiet.” He nibbled her ear from behind.

She shook her head, shivering slightly from the contact. “… I-I just can’t believe we—”

“—did that? Me neither.” He chuckled, cupping her breasts. “The sheets need to be changed though.”

“Okay then.” She told him. “But… too tired to… move.” A yawn escaped her lips.

“Because of earlier?” he asked her.

“The preparations for the exhibit drained me.” She leaned back against his chest, sighing.

For now, he kept his silence, not commenting about the very thing they were arguing about earlier. “I see. After we get out, let’s blow-dry your hair, then go to sleep.”

“ ‘Kay.”

By the time they got out, it was obvious that Kagura was slowly falling asleep. He had barely managed to get her to put on a robe, and by the time he was blow-drying her hair, with him sitting on the couch, and her sitting on the floor just in front of him, she had fallen asleep, her head resting on his thigh, oblivious to the noise of the hairdryer. Snoring softly, he placed her on the couch and proceeded to their bedroom to change the sheets. Several minutes later, he picked her up from the couch and proceeded to lay her gently on the bed. Grabbing the warmest clothes he could find from her drawer, he then removed her bathrobe and dressed her up for the cold autumn evening, taking note of the dark circles around her eyes.

He was out of the office already, and as much as he did not want to think about work during the holidays, it annoyed him that she had to bear the responsibility of making sure that the exhibition planned by the company would go smoothly, when, in fact, she had already planned  _everything_  months before.

Something was wrong, and he would get to the bottom of it.

As if on cue, his smartphone lit up, indicating a notification from one of the apps he had downloaded. Seeing that it was on from a certain social media site, he was about to clear it, until he noticed that it was a message from one of his subordinates.

Opening the app, Sougo read the contents.

… And immediately smirked what Kagura would call his ‘sadistic smirk’.

Tuesday was going to be a rather  _interesting_  day, he was sure of it.

* * *

To say that Kagura was happy with her birthday celebration this year was understating it.

Despite the unexpected turn of events on the long weekend of her birthday, somehow, everything turned out to be alright at the last minute. As much as she hated to credit  _everything_  on her husband (the arrogance of that guy sometimes got on her nerves), she had to give credit when credit was due… which was him managing to save the remnants of their failed plans of just lazing around for the whole three days, and with them ending up watching random movies on the television, a rather intimate dinner, and finally… having yet another steamy sex on her birthday night that still made her blush whenever the thought about it. As a result, she went to work with a facemask on despite having no cold, as a safety precaution in case she thought about…  _it_  during the course of the day.

As always, Sougo went on ahead to the office, as he was the early riser between them, but not before waking her up with a bit of fondling that left her pretty frustrated that her fingers did not seem to satisfy her.

She was so going to get back at him later tonight.

The office, located in Shinjuku, was a thirty minute train ride from their place, and it had been rather uneventful, which involved her not getting squished by her fellow passengers. By the time she, dressed in a simple dark blue dress shirt and black skirt, her hair held back by a hairclip, stepped off the train platform and was well on her way to the company office, some of the employees from the advertising department, some of them she had worked with on previous projects, were whispering amongst themselves as they made their way to the pantry. Puzzled, she turned to her remaining co-worker seated near her, the only one who did not join the others.

“Why is everyone whispering?”

Tokugawa Soyo, known as ‘Tanaka Soyo’ to nearly everyone in their eight-member team, save for her and Sougo, was the company CEO’s younger sister, and was secretly working in the company in order to learn the ropes of running it someday alongside her brother. She and Kagura had graduated at the same time, had also applied at the same time, and had been good friends ever since. It was purely by accident that she found out the connection between her co-worker and the CEO when she overheard Soyo call the CEO ‘ _aniue’_.

“Oh good, you’re here, Kagura.” She said. “I’m not one to gossip but… remember the guy who was supposed to take care of the exhibition yesterday?”

“Uh-huh. Yamada Tarou.”

“Well, Okita-san got him fired. There was a commotion earlier, actually, but I wasn’t there to see it.” Leaning closer, the girl whispered, “It was found out that that guy’s mother didn’t really die. Brother had sent flowers of condolence to the family residence, but  _jiiya_  reported back that the one who actually received it was Yamada’s mother.”

The revelation got her blood boiling. “… What?!” remembering the phone call she received where the guy was practically “crying” his heart out at the “devastating news of his mother’s death”, all sympathies she had for him disappeared in an instant.

“That’s not all.” Soyo continued. “I’ve also confirmed with my brother that the guy used the 500 million yen he encashed, which had your signature on it, for other purposes… and even made it look like it was your fault.”

Upon seeing her turning red in anger, the younger girl added hastily, “Oh, don’t worry. Boss was on your side the whole time, saying that you had given your full trust on that guy, only for him to fail you.”

“Where is he now? The liar, I mean.” Kagura asked, trying to keep her tone neutral.

“He left with his belongings already. Boss ordered him to leave before you came to work because he was sure that he would take it out on you.” Soyo sighed in relief. “I’m just glad he left. Using the 500 million for his own amusement… that’s beyond terrible.”

“Same here.” Kagura replied, trying to calm herself. “How did they find out anyway?”

“Well, Yamada was stupid enough to post photos of him clubbing on a Friday night online… and because he and I are friends in that site, I saw the photos.” Soyo narrated. “While you were running around all over Tokyo to get everything together for the exhibition,  _he_  had the nerve to go out and party in some hostess club in  _Roppongi_ , of all places.” Roppongi was notorious for overpriced restaurants and bars, as it was a well-known area for the expats who lived in Tokyo.

“And after going to Roppongi, he had the nerve to post photos of his Nagano skiing trip with some girl, probably his girlfriend, and even captioning some of the photos, ‘This is the life’.”

“That asshole.” Kagura said, not holding back on the curse that slipped through.

“By Sunday, I knew you were dead exhausted because you were rushing to finish up everything, so I told Boss what had happened.” she said.

“You contacted So-, I mean, Okita-san  _on a Sunday_?” if there was one thing that Okita hated more, it was him being contacted about work during the weekend, most especially on holidays.

At her nod, Kagura whistled. “Good thing he didn’t get angry at you.”

“He has no reason to. I just told him the truth.” At this, she looked around the room. “Besides, he has a right to know that his wife was being played for a fool by a thief.” Seeing her shocked look, Soyo gave her a kind smile. “Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone.”

“T-thanks.” Sighing in relief, Kagura asked, “H-how did you…?”

“Well, truth is, I heard from my brother that you and Okita-san are… going on a—”

“There you are, Sakata.” In came the man in question, looking as if he had not fired an employee earlier. His sudden appearance, however, had made Kagura jump a little. “We’ll be going on a two-week business trip to Okinawa starting tomorrow.”

She narrowed her eyes at him, wondering what he meant by that, when they had no client in Japan’s southernmost prefecture. “… Okinawa?”

Okita broke the news to her. “I asked for a honeymoon leave, and Old Man Matsudaira granted it immediately, saying that I should, because I was an idiot for making you wait for three years.” He shrugged. “You’re fine with Okinawa, right?”

“Why the hell wouldn’t it be okay?” she asked him, punching him in the arm, making him wince. “But this is all too sudden—”

“Great.” He interrupted her. “Leave everything to Tanaka; she’ll know what to do while we’re out of office for two whole weeks.”

“But—”

“Just relax for the whole day and calm your nerves.” He said before taking his seat beside her.

Before she could reply, however, their co-workers began taking their seats, greeting each other good morning, engaging in small talk as they got back to work. Some of them asked her how she had spent her birthday, while she replied politely that it was with her husband.

They knew of her civil status, but they didn’t know who it was.

Besides, if they  _did_  ask who it was, it constituted as an invasion of privacy. [7]

“You probably had a nice time.” Said one of her older co-workers, a single woman in her forties, smiling artificially at her. She never really liked this particular co-worker of hers, even if she knew that she should respectful towards people who were older than her, no matter how terrible their attitudes were. “How did you celebrate it?”

“Just with some food and cake.” She didn’t need to mention that the chocolate cake was used for  _other things_.

“My, how… boring.” Did she mention that the said woman was a bitter old thing who found fault in  _everything_ that she did? “That’s all?”

Just when she was about to lose it, Okita swiveled his chair at the direction of the old woman. “If you’re done chatting with Sakata, Hirai-san, can you please finish up the report on the exhibition yesterday?”

Hirai Natsumi positively beamed at their boss. It was known all over the company that she was so in love with Okita Sougo. “Of course, sir.”

“Good. Leave it at my desk as soon as you’re done.” He turned around to face his computer. “I’ll read it after two weeks.”

 “T-two weeks…?” the older woman asked in a surprised tone.

“Yes. I’m leaving for my honeymoon tomorrow. I’ll be back on the 25th.” He announced nonchalantly, his eyes never leaving the screen, causing everyone except Soyo and Kagura to swivel their chairs at his direction, their mouths wide open in shock.

Who knew that their super sadistic supervisor was married?!

And who was the saintly woman who could actually tolerate him?!

Outside office hours, the sandy-haired man was fun to be with, especially during drinking parties… but during work hours…

To say that he was a slave driver was an understatement.

Among the remaining seven members in their team, it was only Sakata Kagura who could tolerate his moodiness, and the only one among them who would dare talk back to him if she found something wrong with his plan of action.

“I-I see…” the older lady cleared her throat. “I supposed we’ll be deferring to Sakata’s authority while you’re not around?” the tone that Hirai used was filled with loathing when she referred to the younger girl, but Kagura knew she had the last laugh.

“… Actually, I’ll be going along with him. As his wife.”

This time around, no one held back the gasps of surprise that escaped their lips.

* * *

Precisely twelve days later, at Haneda’s Domestic Terminal, Sakata Gintoki rolled his eyes underneath the pair of sunglasses he was wearing as soon as he saw his daughter and her husband, Souichirou the Brat, as he called him back then, walking towards him, hand-in-hand, each of their respective suitcases on their free hand.

The long-delayed honeymoon, Gintoki observed, had had a rather positive effect on the two: if before, they only walked side by side, now, they were holding hands. Also, from a distance, as he wiped the lenses of his dusty sunglasses clean, he noticed that Okita was now wearing his wedding ring on his left finger, instead of its usual place, which was around his neck, as he used it as a necklace of sorts before.

In all honesty, he never expected their relationship to last. He watched his daughter grow up, heard her rants against the boy who ‘was so mean to her’, heard her cries of anguish when Okita told her, at the age of ten, to stop hanging out with him because ‘she was embarrassing him’, and heard her angry declaration of ‘I’m gonna beat him up!’ when she applied for the same university as he did, just so she could get even.

He seriously also thought that their relationship wouldn’t last, for Souichirou had done everything humanly possible to make her cry, but apparently, he thought wrong. The brat actually had it in him to make his daughter happier than he had ever seen Kagura.

The smile on his daughter’s face right now outshined the one that she had when he told her that he was finally settling down with Tsukuyo, and that she would be having siblings… and she was only ten years old back then.

Sighing at the wave of nostalgia that unexpectedly hit him, he smiled at them. “Welcome back.”

“Dad.” Kagura gave him a hug. “Thank you for fetching us.”

“It’s no problem.” Facing Sougo, he nodded. “Souichirou-kun.”

“It’s Sougo.” was the automatic response of the younger male. “Thanks again… Dad.”

“It’s no problem.” Said the famous silver-haired novelist. “As long as that two-week honeymoon gets the results that her siblings are hoping for, everything’s fine.”

“D-dad!” she hissed, hitting his shoulder as she blushed furiously.

“What? I’m just repeating what Dia and Block have been telling me ever since you got married.” He said, taking their suitcases.

“In that case, I’ll do whatever it takes to fulfill the wishes of my in-laws.” Okita said, smirking at his still-blushing wife.

“You wouldn’t dare.” She muttered. For today, they would be staying over at her parents’ house, located in Yokohama City, for a bit of a family celebration. Instead of taking the full two weeks of their honeymoon leave to stay in Okinawa, Tsukuyo had invited them over for a Labor Thanksgiving Day lunch and dinner. And because they were going to stay at her parents’ house, that meant, according to Kagura, ‘no funny stuff’.

Okita was more amused than annoyed by her rule.

“Oh, I  _would_.” He gave her a rather devilish grin, making her nervous.

 Needless to say, despite her rule, he still managed to make it work, though it involved a lot of biting, swollen lips, and scratching to keep them from making any noise. When Block, the younger male twin, pointed out the hickey on Sougo’s neck the next day and asked what it was, he was promptly ignored by the adults.

It was also noted by their co-workers that despite the supposedly relaxing honeymoon, the two of them did not looked very relaxed  _at all_ , especially since Sakata looked more tired than usual.

Soyo had to refrain herself from stating the obvious that the couple was probably doing more than just lazing around during their honeymoon period.

“That was stupid.” She muttered as soon as they had gotten back home from work, the both of them relaxing on the couch. Since they had finally declared that they were married, there was no need for them to go home separately, though this time around, the old hag kept on glaring at her. “ ‘Oh, Sakata-san, you look more haggard than usual. Did you actually go to a honeymoon’?” she mimicked the high-pitched tone of the older woman, causing Okita to laugh.

“Ignore her; she’s just a bitter woman who probably doesn’t get any.” At the mention of the other woman’s lack of sex life, Kagura made a face before chuckling.

“Still…” she leaned over to kiss his cheek. “Thank you.”

“For what?” he asked her.

“For a lot of things… but mainly because you made my birthday unforgettable this year.” Immediately, she unbuckled his belt, unbuttoned his hands, and placed her hand under his boxers, his breathing becoming unsteady.

“W-what are you doing…?”

She aimed a smirk at him that rivaled his own, her blue-colored eyes gleaming mischievously. “I’ve already thanked you for that Okinawa trip… but I’ve  _never_  put it into action. Let me show you just how thankful I am for what you’ve done so far.”

Several minutes later, the floor leading towards the bedroom were littered with discarded clothing.

The very next day, no one in their team dared to comment about the dark circle under both of their eyes.

They  _all knew_  what was going on…and it certainly did not involve overtime work for the company.

* * *

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> [1] ... unlike the other companies where their employees use most of their time to take long breaks and only getting to work by four in the afternoon - throw away that 'the Japanese are hardworking' stereotype. A lot of them just laze away the whole day reading manga or taking so many cigarette breaks until around 5PM, when they go all 'must go overtime to show that I've worked hard'. There really are a lot of hardworking Japanese, but there will always be slackers.
> 
> [2] ... citing even the current economic recession. - as of 2014/12/01, Japan's economy is in recession.
> 
> [3] “Because I won’t become a Christmas cake anymore.” - back then, women married earlier than the age of 25. 25 years old is the supposed age wherein girls are told that it's their last chance to get married. By 26, you're considered "old".
> 
> [4] ... since it might constitute as power and sexual harassment - power harassment is using your authority to force people to do something that they don't like. Sexual harassment doesn't need to be explained, as everyone probably knows what it is by now.
> 
> [5] ... as there were perverts who loved to take up-skirt shots whenever they had the chance to do so. - there are escalators in Tokyo that discourage people from using their smartphones to prevent upskirt shots. The Ooedo subway in Tokyo is one of those escalators that has this rule.
> 
> [6] ... and supposedly the man she would be listening to for as long as she lived all because he was the husband - Japan is very patriarchal, to be honest. However, when it comes to the matters of the household, it's the women who make the decisions.
> 
> [7] Besides, if they did ask who it was, it constituted as an invasion of privacy. - I may have probably tackled this on my other fics, but it needs repeating. The Japanese are very sensitive over matters like these. They are so secretive about their lives that it is really possible for someone to be a porn star without their parents/siblings/loved ones knowing about it.
> 
> Places:
> 
> Roppongi, Tokyo - a well-known expatriate area that has a lot of overpriced restaurants and clubs.
> 
> Nagano Prefecture, Japan - located north of Yamanashi Prefecture, it is a popular winter destination for many Japanese. Apples are the local specialty of this prefecture.
> 
> \--------------------
> 
> Regarding the title of the fic, Happy Monday is based on the Happy Monday System of Japan wherein a majority of the public holidays have been moved to Mondays in order for the Japanese to have three-day weekends. As mentioned before the start of the fic, the 'thanksgiving' part does not refer to the American holiday, but the Japanese one.
> 
> \--------------------
> 
> Final notes:
> 
> I've always been wanting to write a modern-AU fic for this pairing; I finally had an excuse to do so. :)
> 
> If there's one thing in this fic that is important to take note of, it's what that Yamada Tarou character did. In all honesty, Japanese companies, especially the start-up ones, are lenient, and are fine with you taking an absence from work for whatever reason. However, the one thing that they hate with a burning passion is lying about the leave that you took.
> 
> For example, you filed for a sick leave... but in actuality, you're not really sick and is actually using that leave for recreational purposes.
> 
> An example closer to home: one guy from the company I used to work for filed for a sick leave. He was stupid enough to post this on his Twitter account, "FINALLY, I CAN PLAY DRAGON QUEST!"
> 
> He was fired immediately.
> 
> Lesson learned: social media sites can bite you back in the ass if you don't know how to use it properly. :)
> 
> This is getting too long whoops. Thank you for reading!


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